You have probably seen them: the skinny guys wearing the neon yellow boots with almost no buckles, carrying too-long poles and tiny packs, on kid-sized skis with toy bindings…..and going past you remarkably fast up skin tracks. “Ah” you think, as you step aside to let them swish past. “Skimo guy. Dork!"

But perhaps there’s an inkling roaming in the back of your mind, that you almost dare not acknowledge: “Boy, being able to go uphill that fast and get that much more vert in any given outing would be nice, and I’ve heard that that silly light gear isn’t all that bad? And if I did a hard effort once a week in those weird nighttime “races” I’ve heard about, maybe I’d be stronger on the weekends when I need to give’er breaking trail all day?” But those thoughts pass, and you put your head back down to stare at your 20 pound package of fat skis with their fat skins, big boots, and burly bindings and unzip the legs of your huge goretex pants as you recommence slowly shuffling up the skin track, hoping to get to the top before SkimoBoy catches you on his second lap. But what of it? Is “backcountry ski racing” really that dorky? Is it possible to actually ski on that gear? Is it worth my time at all to charge around a dimly lit ski resort at night with other idiots marching up and skitching down in an anaerobic fog?

Michael Hagen

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First I want to thank you for your assistance and advice while buying the Y-King skis and the Vacuum Skins. Second I want to tell you how much I like both. Everyone is jealous when they see how easy the skins come apart or off my skis. Makes for a much more enjoyable day out. I also like how I can wash them off in the sink and dry them out and they are ready to go the next day.....

Lou Dawson at Wildsnow tested and positively reviewed the ATK Raider 12 2.0 all mountain touring binding, which Hagan is making available in the U.S. and worldwide as the Hagan Core binding. The Hagan Core is blue and black to match the Hagan Core alpine touring boot and Hagan Core series of skis. (In my humble opinion, the Hagan Core looks better than the ATK Raider 12 2.0, but that is personal preference.)

There is a lot more effort and expense to "making available" than simply changing the colors — including insurance (a huge expense), distribution, warranty and service support — but that is a subject for another blog post.

The Hagan Core binding is an entirely new binding from Hagan, designed in conjunction with ATK and a significant improvement on the ATK Raider 12. The Hagan Core is a high performance Freeride and All Mountain touring binding. While specifically designed with our Core series skis in mind (with colors that match beautifully), the Core will also work superbly with our Boost freeride skis and Ride tour classic skis.